1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to surgical devices and, more particularly, relates to an instrument cleaner adapted for cleaning an instrument while the instrument is within a sealed surgical portal apparatus during a minimally invasive, e.g., a laparoscopic, surgical procedure.
2. Description of the Related Art
Minimally invasive surgical procedures, including both endoscopic and laparoscopic procedures, permit surgery to be performed on organs, tissues and vessels far removed from an opening within the tissue. Laparoscopic and endoscopic procedures generally require that any instrumentation inserted into the body be sealed, e.g., provisions may be made to ensure that gases do not enter or exit the body through the incision as, for example, in surgical procedures in which the surgical region is insufflated. Particularly, a viewing scope may be introduced into the body through a sealed portal, such as a cannula, in order for the surgeon to view the region being treated on a video monitor and to see any of a variety of surgical instruments introduced either directly or through other portals into the surgical region.
In procedures that employ the internal introduction of a scope, lens smudging and/or other visual obstructions, such as fogging, can occur to obscure the surgeon's view. Known cleaning methods generally require that the scope be pulled completely out of the portal so that the lens can be cleaned and then re-inserted. It would be advantageous to be able to clean the lens while the scope is still inserted into the sealed portal.